This Companion offers an integrated introduction to the study of Jesus.

Companions in Christ is designed to develop you as a leader in guiding the spiritual life of your congregation. This resource gives you an overview of the Christian spiritual life and the practices that help people enter into the formative pattern of Christ's life: a life of prayer, study and service. Help your small-group members move from information (knowledge about) to experience (knowledge of) in the means of grace--ways in which Christ meets people, renews their faith, and deepens their life together in love. This revised Leader's Guide provides detailed guidance for leading a small group through the 28 weekly sessions. The plans have been tested and refined by groups in churches across the country. This books contains all you need, including --the Getting Started Guide, which was formerly a separate piece --a revised plan for a Closing Retreat --Weekly Needs at a Glance --page references for both the comprehensive 1-volume Participant's Book and the new 5-volume series

A haunting, prophetic collection of writings by the six Jesuit priests of the Central American University massacred by Salvadoran soldiers in November, 1989. In a moving memoir Jon Sobrino recalls years of work with each of the priests and celebrates the ideals they embodied.

Grace is a gift. Even before we recognize its need in our lives, God extends us favor. This 9-week study in the Companions in Christ series explores the Gospel of John and how divine grace is at work in our lives today, just as it was in the lives of biblical characters 2,000 years ago. "God's grace comes to us in the distinctive shape of our personal histories, needs, and possibilities," Indermark writes. "Yet divine grace also reveals the depths of what we share across all boundaries of time and place." Participants in this small-group study will explore the central stories of John, focusing on people who discovered God's grace through their encounters with Jesus. The Way of Grace is a transforming interaction with the events and the characters, a chance to identify with what God provided for these people a provision they could never achieve for themselves.

Are you bogged down in your spiritual journey? Does church seem to hinder more than it helps? Here is a welcoming and realistic guide for all who may be feeling spiritually jaded. Whatever your circumstances, Companions of Christ will show you how to embark on a journey of the heart, starting wherever you happen to be and no matter how unfit for the journey you may feel. In Companions of Christ popular British writer Margaret Silf unearths the gold mine of spiritual wisdom to be found in the legacy of Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. Ignatian spirituality sets out an engagingly down-to-earth vision of connecting with God in everyday life. Neither a recipe for a privatized spiritual life nor an agenda imposed by someone else, the Ignatian vision is centered on companionship, which means literally to "share bread" with another. It latches onto God's presence in stories, in other people, in the created universe, and even in God's apparent absence. Perfect for those whose faith in God or patience with the church is flagging, Companions of Christ contains very practical teaching on great Ignatian themes -- imaginative scriptural meditation, spiritual discernment, and honest prayer. Incorporating helpful spiritual exercises throughout, Silf shows both tentative and seasoned believers how to keep faith despite the odds.

It takes a lot of willingness and practice to see life from God's perspective. Perhaps nothing goes more against the grain of human nature than the ideas of forgiving those who wound us and accepting forgiveness from others. The second release in the Companions in Christ Series, The Way of Forgiveness explores how to deal with these issues to preserve "the beauty of our souls" and to fulfill the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. In this 8-week study, Thompson breaks down the transformational process by first examining shame, guilt, and anger. A full release of these feelings not only leads to the wholeness that Christ taught but also takes us on a path of freedom and joy. A unique feature of this book is the inclusion of a reproduction of Rembrandt's Return of the Prodigal Son. Over the course of the study, the artwork will serve as a focal point for reflection and discovery. A Leader's Guide for The Way of Forgiveness is available.

Have you ever felt emotionally wrung out from an ongoing trial? Though suffering often leaves us feeling isolated, God invites us into the community of the Trinity and offers us many companions in Scripture. Journey in these pages with Wendy Alsup through her story of suffering, and more importantly, with the God who walks with us in the wilderness.